Fathers' Role Beliefs and Their Associations to Paternal Involvement, Sensitivity, and Parenting Stress

ABSTRACT Objective This paper investigates how fathers' role beliefs relate to their involvement, sensitivity, and parenting stress. Background Research has consistently shown that fathers play an important role in children's development across multiple dimensions, including their presence in children's lives or the quality of their interactions. However, less is known about how fathers' perceptions of their parenting role relate to the ways in which they engage in fathering. The current study focuses on fathers' role beliefs and how these are associated to different domains of parenting, that is, observed paternal sensitivity, paternal involvement, and parenting stress. Method The sample consisted of 60 fathers and their preschool‐aged children. Fathers reported their beliefs of the fathers' role in the Role of the Father Questionnaire. Paternal involvement and parenting stress were also assessed using questionnaires. Paternal sensitivity was coded from behavioral observation during a semi‐structured father–child interaction. Results The central finding shows that fathers' role beliefs were associated not only with self‐reports but also with observed paternal sensitivity. Regression analyses revealed fathers' role beliefs were linked to paternal sensitivity and parenting stress. Conclusion Fathers who considered themselves to play a significant role in their child's development interacted more sensitively with their children and reported less parenting stress. Implications Interventions aiming to foster paternal sensitivity should simultaneously target fathers' role beliefs, highlighting that their presence and availability matter for their child's development. Promoting paternal identification of being a sensitive father may be an important starting point to support child development in the longer term.